A life science hub in North Texas presents an inspiring mannequin for the best way to construct a sturdy neighborhood that thrives on healthcare and biotech innovation. In a presentation at INVEST Digital Well being, Pegasus Park Govt Director David Snow, PhD, supplied an summary of how the Pegasus Park campus has advanced, fueled by Lyda Hill’s imaginative and prescient and supported by an in depth community of collaboration companions throughout Dallas-Fort Value.
“Lyda Hill is enthusiastic about two issues,” Snow mentioned. “Rising life science firms and constructing a social impression hub that retains expertise, capital, and innovation right here in North Texas.”
One purpose innovation hubs are essential is that their intentional design encourages creativity, collaboration, and concept trade amongst individuals working in the direction of shared or related targets. Their residents supply a wealth of expertise with researchers, college students, and mentors on demand. It might probably take years earlier than life science startups are worthwhile, so shared lab area is important for decrease burn charges. The shut proximity of those startups to one another, to collaboration companions, and to traders inevitably results in partnerships and M&A offers as enterprise capitalists, angel traders, and seed funders are drawn to those hubs of expertise and potential. The fame of educational establishments, traders, and researchers concerned in the life science startups add credibility to those hubs.
Location is essential to any innovation hub. Pegasus Park is strategically situated within the coronary heart of Dallas’ quickly rising Innovation District, adjoining to the Southwestern Medical District; dwelling to UT Southwestern Medical Heart, Parkland Well being, Kids’s Well being, and extra. The campus is situated fewer than 4 miles from Love Discipline Airport and fewer than 15 miles from DFW Worldwide Airport. Proximity to assets, expertise, and networking alternatives gives essential benefits that cut back danger and speed up progress.
There are a couple of parts to the 26-acre Pegasus Park campus. The Tower at Pegasus Park homes accelerators and traders, healthcare and better schooling workplaces, life science firms and social impression organizations. Well being Wildcatters and Mass Problem are two accelerators who name Pegasus Park dwelling. Every of them has cultivated a community of traders and mentors who supply steerage to healthcare and life science startup cohorts and alumni.
BioLabs Pegasus Park is a college and institution-agnostic incubator that gives a degree enjoying floor for all times science innovation. Opened in 2022, the incubator crammed up its shared workspace availability 4 years forward of schedule. BioLabs hosts greater than 20 life science startups which have entry to convention rooms, breakout rooms and shared personal moist lab area. The startup members even have entry to amenities and tools valued at greater than $5 million. For instance, one among its largest companions, Thermo Fisher Scientific, gives state-of-the-art tools together with thermocyclers and a circulate cytometer. PHC Company offered discounted chilly storage and incubation tools. Millipore sponsored, put in, and continues to keep up a water system, whereas Elemental Machines offered chilly temperature and incubator screens.
One of many challenges for innovation hubs is the best way to persuade startups to remain put after they have outgrown an incubator. In 2024, Pegasus Park opened BridgeLabs, an area for progress stage life science firms. BridgeLabs consists of 135,000 sq. toes of purpose-built analysis and improvement area and is the primary institutional-quality lab area within the area. It consists of 4 suites spanning 4,592-6,335 sq. toes – three of them are at present occupied. BridgeLabs additionally presents shell areas for personalized construct out, maximizing impression and effectivity of the area for every tenant.
Snow famous that the area is dwelling to greater than 70 greater schooling establishments with a 72% graduate retention fee.
“Startups right here usually tend to survive, they’re extra prone to scale and extra prone to exit [successful liquidation event],” Snow mentioned.
Universities will not be solely among the many residents of the Pegasus Park campus – additionally they present assets for analysis and expertise. BridgeLab resident College of Texas at Arlington is teaming up with Texas A&M College to launch the Nationwide Heart for Therapeutics Manufacturing Satellite tv for pc Campus at Pegasus Park, a biomanufacturing hub. Southern Methodist College Institute for Computation Biosciences, which fosters collaboration between researchers from biology, chemistry, pc science, engineering, schooling, and enterprise for biotech analysis and improvement, has workplaces on the Pegasus Park campus. There may be additionally a spot for all times science targeted federal companies, corresponding to Superior Analysis Tasks Company for Well being (ARPA-H), a $2.5 billion federal initiative aimed toward accelerating breakthroughs in illnesses like most cancers and Alzheimer’s. The ARPA-H Buyer Expertise Hub discovered a house at Pegasus Park in 2023.
North Texas has a sturdy life science ecosystem. Snow identified that there are eight main well being techniques, and 7 nationwide healthcare organizations have their headquarters in Dallas. It additionally has the third-highest focus of household workplaces within the nation. Greater than 50 life science firms based mostly there had M&A offers up to now 5 years, most lately Reata Prescription drugs in 2023. This UT Southwestern spinout is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm that secured FDA approval for Skyclarys, its drug designed to deal with uncommon neuromuscular dysfunction Friedreich’s ataxia. Biogen’s buyout of Reata Prescription drugs topped $7.3 billion.
“If you spend money on firms based mostly in Pegasus Park and in North Texas, you’re not simply backing a founder with an concept, you’re backing an atmosphere that reduces danger and amplifies the likelihood of a stronger return. Meaning a shorter time to market, sooner progress trajectories, and higher outcomes,” Snow mentioned. “I imagine that Pegasus Park is the premier convening area for a life science hub in North Texas. It’s a spot the place early stage ventures have the very best odds of success and the place your capital can have the best impression. So my invitation to you is straightforward; make investments the place innovation lives. Make investments the place the danger is decrease, the place firms scale sooner and the place returns are stronger.”
Picture: Nick Fenton, Breaking Media
